Demi Negara's Blog Jester of the Week is ...

ALI RUSTAM

Yes, the winner of the inaugural award is Ali Rustam, the Chief Minister of Malacca.

Tahniah YAB Dato' Seri.

Citation:-

For single-handedly liberalising the rarefied Malaysian institution of the Datukship with his awarding of the Darjah Mulia Seri Melaka which brings the title "Datuk" to Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan ostensibly in recognition of this actor's jasa, pengorbanan dan keperwiraan -- deed, sacrifice and gallantry -- in his service to the historical state of Malacca.


Enough has been said about this in the blogosphere. Talk is cheap. KijangMas will not add to the pile. Instead, I propose a hearty pile of:-

Congratulations Ali Rustam !

Bhadai Ho! Yang Berbahagia Datuk Shahrukh Khan. Bhadai Ho!

A Datukship is, of course, just one of the seven must-have items in the Malaysian Neo-VVVIP Survival Kit. This kit consists of (in no particular order):-

- A Datukship
A few years ago, the really cékai VVVIP-wannabes would secure "Dato’ Mindanao" awards from the "Sultan of Mindanao" of the southern Philippines. This has died down after some unflattering media exposure. Quite timely indeed. Otherwise we would have been inundated with Datuks from other extinct Malay kingdoms of the Nusantara – Dato’ Patani, Dato’ Singgora, Dato’ Ligor, Dato’ Setul, Dato’ Palembang, Dato’ Jambi and so on.

- A phony Ph.D. from a diploma mill
Usually off a mailbox somewhere in a sleazy part of my occasional hometown, Los Angeles. Hint: Beware of politicians with "Dr." prefixes mysteriously obtained at late middle-age. Go through the UMNO candidates list for Supreme Council posts and above and spot the LA-mailbox University alumnis. Well, I guess "Dato' Seri Dr." adds some much-needed credibility to these assorted jesters and broker-angins.

- A luxury sedan or MPV
Recon pun bolehlah. But heavy tinting is de rigueur.

- A single digit number plate
Numbers "1" and "8" are out of the question, so many would settle for a "4" or a "5." The more cékai VVVIP-wannabes would get an "11" and then affix the digits one millimeter apart to create the illusion of a number "1" when viewed from afar. Personally, I would go for "6967" – it sounds good when said aloud in Cantonese with a mouthful of Ngan Yin groundnuts.

- A "Power" Crest
... mounted near the number plate. The bigger the better. It doesn’t matter if the jawi script stands for Persatuan Bekas Perajurit Perang Congo or Ahli JKKK Kubang Sepat, Pasir Mas. Lagi besar lagi bagus beb.

- A Trophy Maid
Yes, a trophy maid. Trophy wives are now passé -- they are high maintenance and inevitably get old, fat and ugly and are non-exchangeable or returnable. Trophy maids are just like the recon luxury cars or the phony Ph.Ds or the meaningless car crests – obtainable for a determined price and replaceable, plus can cook and wash too. It has become fashionable nowadays for these Datuks to utter, "Oh itu orang gaji I. Bukan bini I. Kenapa? Cun kan?"

- Golf Clubs in the boot/trunk
... although the last time they actually “played golf” was when they whacked the neighbourhood stray with the 9 iron.


Anything else in the Malaysian Neo-VVVIP Survival Kit?

In Conversation with Robin (A Serial on Malaysiana) ………

I have regular chats with a casual non-Malay friend whenever I can. I will call him Robin.

Robin is a typical 40-something middle-class ethnic-Chinese citizen of Malaysia. Born in Penang. Studied in Australia on a PaMa scholarship. Worked there as an auditor for a decade and returned to Malaysia to work in a smallish MNC in Subang Jaya. His wife is in advertising. They have no kids. He was a product of Chinese vernacular schooling, but his preferred home language is English.

He has never uttered a proper word of Bahasa Malaysia in all the years I’ve known him, although I know he is sufficiently conversant in our national language when I “caught” him in a mobile phone conversation with an IRB officer on some tax issues (it went something like: "… ya Puan, saya sudah isi semua punca pendapatan saya di dalam borang B …") a few years ago.

He was a BN-type fellow until a couple of years ago when his views became more “radical” and he became more opinionated on issues a typical ethnic-Chinese Malaysian would hitherto never touched, at least not publicly, and especially not in the presence of a Malay. His views are essentially a repackaged a la carte smorgasbord of typical ethnic-Chinese grievances littering the blogosphere.

I will relate these views and my conversation with Robin in an occasional serial in this blog.

The subject today is police corruption, a classic grievance of the ethnic-Chinese and a main topic in NameWee’s Negarakuku racist garbage.

Robin told me that the Chinese are victimised by the (Malay) police, with regular RM50 kopi money expropriated from them at every opportunity. He went on and on about these injustice and parasitic affliction reflective of the Malay “tongkat” culture.

I finally decided to engage Robin, to dissect and synthesize the core logic of this Chinese urban legend.

So I asked him:-

- When the traffic cop pulled him over, he must have broken the law – speeding, illegal U-Turn, entering a no-entry zone. Robin admitted that much, protesting that he had to cut queues and drive fast to be at work on time after the notorious Subang crawl.

- I said that the fine is typically RM300. He agreed.

- I told Robin that he could always accept the ticket and pay the full fine. But no, he decided to bribe the cop RM50.

- I told him that this is not extortion or expropriation. I don’t recall any story of Malay traffic cops getting RM50 from ethnic-Chinese motorists at gunpoint. Robin voluntarily gave the RM50 to settle the issue – in his own words, to Kau Tim. See, Kau Tim -- to selesai the easy way out -- has become part of the Malaysian vocab, courtesy of our ethnic-Chinese citizens.

- I told Robin that I regard traffic policemen -- irrespective of ethnicity -- who take bribes as crooks and lowlifes that must be weeded out of our society.

- But I also told Robin that he was the bigger crook, in fact by a factor of six. You see, Robin bribed the Malay policeman RM50 in order to cheat the nation of RM300 in uncollected revenues. Multiply this by potentially thousands of transactions per day and thats a pretty hefty amount of revenues foregone. No wonder Robin can splash on many of life's comforts while bribing his way through the fast lane of the Rat Race.

- I told Robin, I’ve never bribed a policeman in my life. When I get pulled over for speeding, two possibilities ensued: The policeman either gives me a verbal warning which I accept quietly; or the policeman gives me a speeding ticket, which again I accept quietly. No money asked, no money offered, no money given. I told Robin of my rule of thumb when I get pulled over anywhere on earth: When the cop starts to write a ticket, just shut the fxxk up. Game’s over at the street level. In fact, when it comes to the LAPD, you better not twitch lest Officer Tweedledumb might suddenly discharge his Glock 22 .40 caliber in your pretty face.

- Within the 30-day compound period, I would make my way to the district traffic police headquarters to plead for a reduction in the compound, and usually the RM300 goes down to RM80. I duly go to the counter, pay the compound, take my receipt, and continue with my life. That is part of life lah! Same thing anywhere on this planet.

- Bottom line: I broke a traffic code, I got busted, I faced it like a man. I saved RM220 legally. The country gets RM80 in revenue.

Robin interjected, “Haiyaa like that susahlah. Where got time? I need to earn a living maah. Just pay-off the cop lah.”

Come again ….? What is wrong with this picture? Can you see the disconnect here?

Who’s fault was it again?

The Malay policeman? The “repressive” law? UMNO people? PAS people? Dr. M? Khir Toyo? The “country”? Global Warming?

I interjected: “Or maybe, Robin, it was just tiny little infinitessimal …….. YOU!!” Yes -- Lu. Engkau. Hang. Awok. Mung!

YOU are THE factor that crippled the system. Your quest to cari lubang keluar without paying your true dues induced this breakdown. But would Robin admit to this fact hanging out like Dog’s Balls for all to see? Of course not.

To the ethnic-Chinese of Malaysia, they are beyond reproach. They are the embodiment of the perfect being. This state of kesempurnaan is tampered only by the thick undergrowth of Malay mediocrity that curtails the Chinese quest for wealth and fortune. Thats their standard issue gospel from the time Robin entered Standard One at the SRJK(C). Amen. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah.

I said ........ Podaah!

You Chinese are crippled by "thick undergrowth" alright ……. by the thick poisonous weeds of your own make-believe ethno-chauvinist propaganda. You have become a race of whiners. You complain about everything in this blessed land called Malaysia. You view yourselves as a race that has done and can do no wrong. You hate the police, but you use the police and ask for police protection. You condemn the law, but you use the same law to sue people. You tell the world that Malaysia is undemocratic, but you partake in the democratic process like an addiction.

You have become a race of contradictionists living in ambiguity underpinned by a dichotomous existence. In other words, you are a confused lot.

But what do you do?

You blame it all on the Malay majority.

See, our ethnic-Chinese citizens view the World from their Chinese-tinted glasses, where they are always betul while the Malays, the government, the laws, the constitution, indeed, the country are always salah.

Lets go back to Robin’s case:-

They break the law – by speeding.

They break the law – by bribing the policeman.

They break the law – by depriving the nation of this “social revenue.”

They break the law …. again … by speeding away in disgust after the payoff.

and

They break the law -- by spewing seditious spins to the above stories for all the world to read.

But

They think they are the victims.

They are persecuted.

They are discriminated.

The Malays need their duit kopi to survive.

They think they are model citizens and above even an iota of criticism lest they will throw tantrums that reverberate across the world with shrills of "help us world, the Malays are repressing us, we got no rights."

In other words, they are the new untouchables of Malaysia – hypersensitive, hyperprotective, hyperdemanding, hyperselfish, hyper-ethnocentric, hyper-chauvinist .......... yeah, and jump queue at the Hypermarket as well!

Question: is this mindset sustainable? Is this the kind of people our founding fathers envisioned as Malaysian citizens? What actually went wrong?

Well, since the non-Malays nowadays take pride in their frankness and think there are no sacred cows in our complex socio-political framework, I will be frank as well. When the Duli-Duli Yang Maha Mulia Raja-Raja Melayu agreed to the wholesale dishing out of Malayan citizenships -- even inexplicably waiving Bahasa Melayu proficiency tests -- to a million and a half unwanted, abandoned stateless Chinese (and Indians) in 1957, could the Duli-Duli Tuanku have envisioned that the descendants of these desperate huddled masses would after 51 years become an unintegrated community of lawbreakers; a community infested by crooks and thieves and counterfeiters and pimps; a community that not only tidak terhutang budi to the Duli-Duli Tuanku for the precious kewarganegaraan, but now had the audacity to challenge every single tenet of Duli Tuanku's instruments of nationhood, not least the Bahasa Malaysia and Adat-Adat Melayu and the keris and the songkok and the sacred principle of Negara Dalam Arca Melayu held dear by Duli-Duli Tuanku.

Should we treat these pathological lawbreakers leniently? Give more muka and perhaps a piece of our peha on top of all the tanah, bukit, balak, pasir, sungai, and timah that they have siphoned away for the past abad or so? Do we need to kumpul and cuci anymore sampah, sisa, hampas and habuk in the bumi gersang and padang jarak padang tekukur left in their wake?

They deserve to be viewed as equal partners in nationbuilding? Heck, they don’t even recognise or comprehend the fundamental tenets of nationhood of our Tanah Air Tercinta.

What then?

You tell me ……..

MT's Propaganda War on Najib ... at the Expense of Hinduism

I stumbled upon this story by the Malaysian Insider on the latest antics of the Rabid anti-Malay Racist on Malaysia Today.

The increasingly desperate racist psychopaths and weirdos of MT have now set a new standard in sleaze reporting. Go to MT ( posting entitled "Oh Guruji, ke mana kau pergi?" posted on 16 October 2008 10:37) and see for yourselves. The profiling of these nut cases in my recent RPK/MT posts, indeed, was no exaggeration.

This well-financed anti-Malay propaganda machine posted a doctored picture of Najib Razak dressed in Hindu ceremonial garb performing a public Hindu religious rite. The obscenity-laden narrative accompanying the picture is unusually vitriolic – a personal, bitter and unadulterated manifestation of unbridled dendam -- even by the low standards of this cyber trainwreck-in-waiting. The accompanying rantings by the usual MT Junkies matched the vile article, and their blind belief in the authenticity of the picture reflect the level (or lack) of intellect among these cultists.

Many of us are not exactly card-carrying members of the Najib-Rosmah Fan Club. And KijangMas counts himself as a fierce Najib critic (due partly to Najib's exasperating reluctance to hasten Pak Lah's departure and his insulting innuendos against my countrymen in PRU12 with his infamous "Kelantan Munduuuuur" speech, which contributed to BN/UMNO's crushing defeat to PAS), but to doctor a photo of him, a Muslim (or any Muslim for that matter), performing a Hindu religious rite is a blatant act of fitnah beyond the limit of human decency. We are well into Tian Chua's territory here.

I just want to ask: where are the Idealists? Where are these self-righteous "intellectuals"
-- the likes of Malik Imtiaz, Haris Ibrahim, Azly Rahman and Bakri Musa -- who often shout for human decency, ethno-religious tolerance, fair play and high moral standards in their rambling syiok sendiri articles prominently displayed on MT? Where? These Malay/Muslim Apologists -- tagged "good Malays" by the chauvinist devils infesting the MT cesspool -- are nowhere to be seen even as a bunch of freakish Chinese extremists cut, paste, mutilate and denigrade the image of a fellow Malay Muslim.

On top of the insult to a Malay Muslim, these MT crooks also brought a Hindu religious ceremony into disrepute by stirring Malay Muslim passions against the Hindu minority. These spinmeisters look down on Hindus and used Hinduism as the key element of their plot to denigrade Najib, as if Hinduism is something "bad" and shouldn't be associated with anybody, least of all a Malay politician -- a spin meant to ruffle Malay Muslim sentiments at the expense of Indians and Hindus.

You Indian Hindus out there, wake up! Can't you see the MT Chinese extremists are insulting your religion, by equating your religious rites as "bad" and, hence, using it to cast Najib in a "bad light"? Can't you see you are being used by these psychopaths who cast aspersions on Najib at the expense of your faith? You Hindraf sympathisers, I can't understand why you are joining the MT chorus in this instance when your religion is dragged in the mud with Najib? Mainstream Malaysians just don't get it. What was your struggle for then? Cannot be for the Hindu faith ....?

Again, where are the bombastic literary discourses by MT's "good Malays" to condemn this seditious insult to a fellow Muslim and to Hinduism? And there is not even a whimper from Din Merican, the
self-appointed guardian of the blogosphere perennially haunted by hired hands and cyber propagandists, i.e., his own shadow. What would you call this Din? O.k. for you? Just because it was spewed by your side? You spineless hypocrite!

Anyway, I don’t think I will hold my breath and wait for Din Merican (the self-declared “Professor of Global Strategy” at Pol Pot College) to spew another copy-and-paste job with a “See what we are up against: Doctored Pictures” banner blazing in his DAP/PKR-financed blog. Why won't he say something against this fitnah? Why should he? He himself is part of this propaganda machine, indeed, an unrepentant penyangak of the perosak bangsa variety.

Demi Negara challenge the following Malay/Muslim Apologists -- Azly Rahman, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Bakri Musa, Harris Ibrahim, Karim Raslan, Wan Hamidi Hamid, Zaid Ibrahim, Tunku Aziz Ibrahim as well as the Apologist of the Malay Apologists, Din Merican, to condemn this act of slander and defamation on a fellow Muslim in no uncertain terms. Yeah, you all may not like Najib -- and KijangMas as mentioned has reservations on Najib's ability to judge people -- but I thought you people are guided by principles of human decency transcending politics? Make your stand now and show us your ability to do what's right for the sake of the nation we share, demi negara tercinta.

But I doubt any of you will take action. You cannot alienate your fan base right?

Your inaction reveals to the world your true colours, as nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites and unprincipled opportunists hiding behind a plasticky façade of intellectualism in need of validation from the non-Malays and the international media to overcome your deep sense of inferiority, your inherent need "to belong" in the midst of others.

Watch out for the Demi Negara Blog Jester of the Week award !

And the winner is . . . . . .

This award is given to a public figure who in the past week has singularly embodied everything that's wrong with our society. This is non-partisan. No sacred cows here.

Demi Negara has identified the inaugural award recipient, with the blogosphere coronation stage prepared and "trophy" requisitioned.

But give us your own choice anyway. And state why.

Remember, this award is for a personality in the news this week for the wrong reasons.

The RPK-MT Postscript

My posting on the mystique of Raja Petra Kamarudin and his Malaysia Today SoPo portal apparently stirred a hornet's nest of sorts in the blogosphere. I find the varied reactions across the Malaysian political continuum rather enlightening and thought provoking.

(Note: Go to the Comments section of the Unraveling the RPK Mystique post below for the readers’ feedback).

The Malaysia Today zealots – I call them the MT Junkies -- were understandably distressed. Perhaps they were outraged by the "audacity" of the post, especially the “profiling” of their flock into five rambling cyber-tribes. They also condemn the sacrilegious act of debunking the many myths of RPK and MT, and view this as a desecration of the iridescent image of their infallible, sacrosanct cyber-deity.

This impertinence, indeed, this outrage, ruffled the MT flock. A big dosa had been committed. How dare of Demi Negara to insult their idol, their hope, their saviour, their shining light to the path of political enlightenment! Whoaa, whoaa, …. take it easy disciples. Sit!

I think these MT Junkies should sober up and read this before this dewa-nization mania gets out of hand. I’m a keen student of political history, and I know that personality cults invariably lead to troubling conclusions – for both dewa and congregation.

Let me just say that I have nothing against RPK. In fact, I acknowledge his early contribution to the struggle for justice and press freedom. His many exposé over the years made compelling reading and encouraged critical thinking among ordinary Malaysians. I was an early fan and revel in his epic David and Goliath skirmishes with the state. He was the quintessential hero of the common folk. But the flavour of RPK’s struggle changed through the years, from a popular movement for all Malaysians to a sick, anti-Malay, anti-Islam lair infested with anonymous racists, chauvinists, psychopaths and sickos. A core group of not more than 30 junkies began to dominate the postings and -- without the necessary Malay and Islamic counterpoints (these were moderated away wholesale as mentioned in my RPK Mystique post) -- terminally infected MT with racist hate, contempt and vengeance almost unrivaled in any of the world's major SoPo portals.

RPK’s rather noble intentions were hijacked and re-synthesized by these dark elements of our fragmented society. This was facilitated by RPK’s ongoing feud with his UMNO adversaries, where RPK gradually equate legitimate dissenting Malay points of view as “UMNO Cybertrooper propaganda” and hence not to be given the light of day on MT. Conversely, posts blatantly insulting to Malays and Islam – but under the guise of anti-UMNO, anti-UMNOputras, anti-NEP – were allowed and these snowballed into an orgiastic fiesta of one-sided Malay-bashing. The anti-Malay rhetoric puked time and again by these racists and bigots typically revolve around the penchant of the Malays (tagged as “UMNOputras” of course) to be corrupted, lazy, stupid, ignorant, weak, foolhardy, and totally dependent on canes and crutches provided by the “UMNO government,” lest they will shrivel and collapse under the weight of their own pathetic beings.

Wow …. betul ka? Lu olang pecaya suma ini ka?

Lu ingat gua olang tutuk lumah cakap ini macam ka:-

"Ibu, ibu … I feel sooooo weak and helpless. I’m a Malay you know. Where are my crutches? Gimme my tongkat. Has the gomen credited my free money into my ASB account? Aduuh, the dividen only 45% this year ka? I need the free money to put the RM100 booking fee on the rumah I'm getting at 30% discount paid by my 110% gomen loan. Oh ya, has the free baja, free diesel, free perahu and free kain pullicat arrived? I'm selling them to Ah Seng for this month's wang segera to pay the bunga of last month's hutang to Tamboopillay."

As P. Ramlee would say: "Pigidahh!" "Kepala hotak bejambol" (no, that's Ahmad Nisfu's line).

Anyway, in the world of the MT Junkies, anything achieved by the Malay is attributed to the NEP. The failure of a not-so-smart non-Malay (yes, actually stupid non-Malays do exist in large numbers) is also blamed on the NEP. Supersmart, hardworking and succesful Malays are brushed aside as the “children of the NEP.”

The NEP became the iconic three-letter catch-all to explain away Malay success and non-Malay failure.

Isn’t life simple and dandy?

Q: “Ah Chong, why are you hustling all day and not earning an honest living?” A: NEP mahhh.
Q: “Muthu, why don’t you go to school and learn a marketable skill?” A: NEP lah dey.
Q: “Guys, I saw Ali in his new Honda Accord, nice ahh?” A: Haiya, he got it thru NEP lah. You donno ahh?”

Now, who is into slick propaganda? Is it UMNO or is it MT and their phantom benefactors? You tell me.

The shrills of ecstasy and noisy one-upmanship among the MT Junkies in their Malay- and Islam-bashing euphoria jump in your face as you chillingly forage down the Comment sections and wonder how on earth would a Malay like RPK allow these thrash-talk on his own race? To spite his UMNO enemies perhaps? Many of these same junkies spew comments on MT 18-20 hours a day, perhaps reflective of their wretched, maladjusted existence. I’m convinced many would kill themselves if MT pulls the plug as MT is their life, a reason to exist, a sole source of empowerment, their conduit of hate. Go check the comments and you’ll understand.

In a nutshell, RPK’s tolerance of these malcontents and misfits underpinned the gist of my critique. Again, RPK per se is not the issue – and my post is clear on that – but his inability to rein in these racist elements ruined the fundamentals of his struggles and aspirations in the eyes of the vast majority of Malays and by extension Malaysians.

***************************

I must, however, thank the Malaysia Today flock for their comments and feedbacks. The Rabid Racists and MT Junkies came out in full force with their racist and bigoted remarks and astonishing perversions of reality so indicative of psychopantic cultists through the annals of history. This confirmed my thesis on this group. These trolls challenged this blog not to moderate their hate messages. Well, Demi Negara will open the floodgates the moment MT and other racist, anti-Malay, anti-Islam sites remove comment moderation on THEIR sites as well. We Malaysians look forward to reading the 500-600 daily comments sent by Malays that gets “moderated away” by MT (in the words of RPK no less).

The antics of the MT junkies validated all the tenets of my quick and dirty profiling of their lot. Their rabid racist attitude and pathological hatred towards this country’s Malay majority and official Islamic faith were in full bloom in their energetic feedbacks.

Excellent.

My hypothesis expounded in the Unraveling the RPK Mystique post was correct. Again, their whole hearted participation is appreciated. Thanks again people. Kam Sia. Toh Cheh. Nandri.

***************************

I wrote a lengthy piece in the Comments section of the Unraveling the RPK Mystique post regarding the peculiar action of an MT Psychopant (this is a more advanced form of “Junkie”) named Din Merican.

This gentleman copied-and-pasted my post to his blog, complete with a cryptic Orwellian warning:-

“Fellow Malaysians, this is what we are up against, hired writers/apologists for a discredited regime.”

Bravo Deano!

This was promptly planted in MT, which then triggered a significant increase in traffic to this blog. Now, that's what I call a trickle down, double-scoop Friedmanian multiplier effect. Thanks Din. Couldn't do it without ya. You’re an excellent collaborator. Ha ha ha.

Anyway, my piece on Din Merican’s antics in the Comments section deserves a post by itself. So here goes (refined/enhanced for clarity):-

I would like to thank Din Merican for spreading my thoughts to netizens across the land and beyond. It’s not common to have your ENTIRE 3,700-word posting – warts and all -- copied and pasted lock-stock-and-barrel by an established blogging old hand like Din Merican. Thanks again buddy. You made my day.

But I must say that your exuberance to disseminate my piece should not be smothered by your emotional need to “belong” -- your desire to be part of the scene.

What am I talking about?

Well, Din Merican – apart from piggybacking on my post (yeah, I heard it’s a good tactic to divert traffic without investing your own grey matter) – cunningly INSERTED HIS NAME (and for some reason “Farish Noor”) into my paragraph on the “Idealists.” See here (I highlight Din’s insertion -- “Din Merican, Farish Noor” – in blue):-

“The thought leaders of this small but influential group include fellow bloggers Dr. Azly Rahman, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Din Merican, Farish Noor, Dr. Bakri Musa, Harris Ibrahim, as well as writers Karim Raslan, Wan Hamidi Hamid and politicians, Zaid Ibrahim and Tunku Aziz Ibrahim.”

Hmm, what do you call this act? It’s not censorship because you “cut-away” or blank-out content when you censor. Is there a term for unauthorised, cheap shot add-ons?

In geology, there is a term called “accretion,” where terranes (small land masses) get sutured to larger continental blocks over time. Maybe this is a case of “blog post accretion” Din Merican style. This abomination of basic ethics must have something to do with Din Merican’s “need to belong,” perhaps his delusional perception of relevance in the blogosphere, hence, the act of inserting his own name in a perceived prestigious list for all to see. Apparently, Din’s a laughing stock at Rocky’s blog when this was highlighted by someone (no, not me. I was busy fishing) yesterday.

Anyway, if I do get the chance to meet Din, I would utter: Hey Din, apa dah jadi kat hangpa ni? Apasai dok ciplak post aku dan selit nama hang dalam cerita aku. Aku khabak kat ‘Nuar baru hang tau ….nanti sampai Pak Sheikh pusin kepala dok kata “ayoyo si Deano nih, betui kah?” Nampak gaya nya hang kena lah banyak ilék ilék kat Boss hang Ahad nih di Kg. Baru .... Aku pikiaq lebih baik hang pi cuti aja kat rumah hang di Phnom Penh tuh. Nanti tak sedap dengaq orang dok ngumpat pasai hang ni …

O.k., o.k., ... I do empathize with my old buddy Din’s inherent need to be perceived as a peer of a “select group” ….. on a list that I created while ... ahemm ... pontificating in the throne room, yeah the loo. Geeez, talk about being vain, Deano baby.

***************************

Anyway, beyond this mind boggling self-promotion, Din Merican somehow saw a hidden hand, in fact a PAYMASTER, behind my blog. To quote him (don’t worry, I won’t insert my name into his writing):-

“It reminds me of the heydays of the Cold War when the CIA used novelists, academics and journalists to spread the word. Stalin and Hitler too did the same thing when they temporarily held the reins of power.”

Wow! Holy whatchamacallit! I’m honoured. Danke Schoen. Большое Спасибо.

What is this guy thinkin’? Remember the adage, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”? I guess the iblis must be working overtime in Din’s case.

Din, please come for Raya at my Yalta dacha and my Berghof villa next week. Ketupat and borsch is good. Oh, check out Olga’s lemang sprinkled with beluga caviar. Certainly will give your Nasi Kandaaq a run for its money, yeah the Rubles and Reichsmarks and Renmimbis.

I’ll be quoting your gem of a preamble that you wrote in your blog on top of my posting (that you copied-added your name-and-pasted) in a future book entitled “Confessions of a SoPo Blogger.”

In one fell swoop of your keyboard, I’m now a suspected novelist, academic and journalist. Thank you sir. I guess I’m now in your Deepavali (oops, I mean Hari Raya) A-List now uhh? Wow, I’m now an “Elite”. An Orang Ternama. The multiple “Vs” in the IP.

But again, maybe I’m just a simple paddy farmer in Kelantan with a Darjah Enam education who somehow reads a lot and can write reasonably well in Bahasa Malaysia and English? You never know, do you?

Isn’t it interesting how one simple analysis of a sacred cyber-deity would result in being tagged a hired hand on par with the “novelists, academics and journalists” lapdogs of the CIA, Stalin and Hitler!

A simple blog posting pun sudah menggelabah ka? I cannot imagine how these guys would react to a real national crisis if they are ever in power. Is Din Merican a benchmark of the caliber of Pakatan Rakyat’s technocrats? Now we should all be worried. Lazy lanuns bearing rusty kerises on crutches on one end vs. jittery paranoiac vain conspiracy theorists on the other on a sewage-laden political battlefield of fools and village idiots!

Hey, my uncle Ku Li may have a chance after all! But Ayah Li, do you really want to clear all this mess? I think sipping piña coladas and dozing off to the croonings of Frank Sinatra at your Palm Manor verandah is a better proposition.

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I think it is intriguing that Din Merican and the MT junkies equate critical writing with paid literary servitude. Well, as the saying goes, it takes a whore to know one. We know who Din Merican's ultimate paymaster is, right? It's o.k. people. He needs to cari makan as well. That is his rezeki.

But with all due respect and humility, I don't think anyone can afford me, let alone dictate and direct yours truly without great risk to their spiritual and physical well-being. Being the closet UMNO man that he is, Din is giving too much credit to the UMNO people. RPK said (well, since his “word” is gospel, I will believe him here) that the “UMNO Cyber Troopers” under the tutelage of Azalina Othman Said and Norza Zakaria are each paid a princely sum of RM2,750 per month. Sorry sir, I can make many times that sum in a day in my line of business, and this is not “due to the NEP” crap that you MT rabid racists hurl at Malays all the time.

Do you honestly think Azalina and Norza have the intellect, patience and tenacity to search, screen, hire, brief, strategise, monitor and pay a “novelist, academic and journalist” (in Din’s words) to partake in a cyberwar with racist anti-Malay sites like MT? I don’t want to sound like a typical rabid MT anti-Malay racist here, but seriously I don’t think their IQs exceed their bodyweight … in kilos. Thanks for the thought all the same.

Many of the MT junkies theorised that this blog owner may not even be a Malay, perhaps because the "quality" of the analysis and writing would be beyond the mental faculties of the Malay. Well, I guess Malays have IQs of less than 50 (as posted by someone on MT yesterday) and couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time, right? See what I meant when I refer to these scums as Rabid Racists? So now Din Merican and gang will need to reconcile the enigma of a non-Malay (yes, one of YOU guys) on the PAYROLL of the dreaded ruling Oligarchs masquerading as a Malay to attack his fellow non-Malays. Now that’s one heck of a putar belit of a plot! More of the nasi kandaaq variety I would guess and beyond my simple straightforward Kelantanese mind. What literature have you people been reading? Something from the Pol Pot College of Deception where Din is purportedly (in his CV) a “Visiting Professor of Global Strategy”? Astonishing!

Anyway folks, I value reactions like Din Merican’s. It gives us an indication of the thought processes of the competing forces of Malaysian politics. Indeed, my future posts may also trigger perhaps even more rabid reactions from the BN/UMNO pahlawans, panglimas, laksamanas and perwiras, with keris and machetes in hand to silence this “paid writer from the Din Merican camp.”

Interesting …….. Din Merican may then have to do a sequel styled: “This is what we are up against: Double Agents.” And for your sequel, please feel free to copy-and-paste my other postings. Be sure to state your source (that’s me lah) clearly. BUT please lah, don’t lah add YOUR NAME in my writings. Bloggers must have ethics too.

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See, beyond your constipated verbiage and giddy rhetoric, you are all the same – whether you’re UMNO, PKR, DAP, PAS, Gerakan, MCA, MIC, SAPP, Kimma, ……… Hindraf, ……… ABC, AEIOU, Yabadabadoo, …… lu orang semua sama la!

You all emerged from the same cesspool of hate and intolerance and delusional aspirations and are actually more alike than you think. The only difference is that you slithered up different slopes of the cesspool, inbred and evolved into mutually-hating organisms. Throw in a couple of self-appointed cyber messiahs and demigods, coupled with a lameduck sleepyhead and some lanuns and a chameleon of a Confidence Trickster and you have the current potpourri of Malaysian politics.

Din Merican went on: “… there are people who are willing to sell their integrity for money and promise of favors.”

Yeah, I agree Din. How much they pay you? C’mon tell us lah. Nak hidup right?

Seriously, your observation is interesting. Can you please give us bloggers a feeler on these paymasters willing to buy our “integrity for money and promise of favors.” Are these “favors” in the form of “sedekah” of China hookers shuffled to my back seat at the Simpang Pulai rest area? Sorry lah, my Ferrari 430 Scuderia has no back seat and only a midget no bigger than Norza can fit into my gizmo-laden passenger seat. Or do you provide dwarf hookers as well? Nahh. But I'm partial to Snow White though. You can partake in Dopey and Grumpy if you want. But Sleepy's booked. I heard in Putrajaya until March 2009.

Pick your choice Deano. Snow White’s mine.
Sleepy’s assigned to Sri Perdana until March 2009. The rest available.

There are a lot of starving bloggers holed up in dingy cybercafés out there. Spread the rubles around lah Din. I’m sure the largesse has piled up now, with one paid hand already out-of-service and a few more getting their wings clipped. Geez, these Nazis and Stalinists and CIA bosses give me the creeps.

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For purveyors of Free Speech and Freedom of Expression, please read Din Merican’s “warning” carefully. Tolerance for competing views are not his forté. Anyone that makes sense but goes against the grain of his thinking, he will call them “paid hands” and such. So what else is new in our country? Remember my cesspool story above. Yup, Din Merican himself is a living embodiment of the intolerant cesspool organism that he opposes so much.

Comments on my RPK Mystique post in other racist, anti-Malay blogs have been lively as well. Some are calling for this blog owner to be held under the ISA once the PR takes over. See people, my theory's right again. They are all from the same cesspool, irrespective of party. They want to abolish the ISA to get RPK and the Hindraf 5 out, but they still want the ISA to lock up people who have different opinions to theirs. Hypocrites!

The intolerance to dissenting views is much higher among these MT junkies than anywhere else in the real or cyber-world. They fight for Free Speech, Freedom to Demonstrate, Freedom of Assembly ... for themselves and their kind ... BUT they'll be the first to stifle dissent, to want to lock-up people, to insult, suppress and sabotage alternative voices. Well, try sending a pro-Malay, pro-Islamic piece on MT and see what happens. Nothing happens. Someone called "jebatmustdie" (it's that popular blogger I presumed) commented on Din Merican's blog no less that all of his "balance views" sent to MT never got posted, in effect moderated to the trash heap of intolerance and injustice.

Finally, Din Merican said: “There is so much gubberish (sic), like this one for example, out in cyberspace, print media and the air waves, that we need to be careful.”

I don’t quite understand this “need to be careful.” But many Malaysians are now just about had it with the malicious lies and bigotry that clutter our cyberspace. We won’t allow the rantings and racist attacks and utter bigotry go unchecked. Since these chauvinists and misguided souls deemed it fit to “moderate away” competing reactions to their rantings in their blogs, others have no choice but to create their own platform to express their thoughts.

This is just the beginning. You ain't seen nothin' yet. The silent majority had been exceedingly patient and tolerant these past few years. But not anymore. We will regain the sanity and recalibrate the social decorum of our blessed Tanah Air Tercinta. No more biadap, no more kurang ajar, no more naik kepala, no more tak mengenang budi, no more tak sedar diri ... none of these. The anarchy and socio-political decadence of the Sleepyhead Era is over. We will regain the maruah of our Negara, Nusa and Bangsa. Let there be no doubt.

In a way, Din Merican is right. The pengkhianat, the penyangak, the pembelot, the penderhaka, the pemusnah bangsa and the perosak negara do "need to be careful.” Mainstream Malaysiana -- of all races and creeds -- will reclaim our blessed land from these divisive forces of evil as epitomised by the wretched racist slimeballs and lowlifes oozing in the cesspool of Malaysia Today and other filthy anti-Malay, anti-Islam racist blogs and portals. There will be no more sheltered cocoon for the Rabid Racists on MT to spew their hatred and prejudices.

To the MT Junkies and other pengkhianats and penderhakas, that's life. You dish out your venom, you'll get more potent antidotes in return. You play with fire, you'll get burnt. That's life people.

Unraveling the RPK Mystique

Much has been said about the ISA detention of Raja Petra Kamarudin. Over the past decade, the 58 year old has emerged from obscurity to become a sort of cult figure for some Malaysians, and his detention has become a cause célèbre for “the quest for justice and inequality.” RPK is also perceived by many to be some sort of figurehead and rallying point in their opposition to the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional coalition that has governed the country since Merdeka 51 years ago.

Who are these RPK supporters?

Do they truly represent the Malaysian social milieu? Well, they themselves certainly feel that way. A browse through RPK's Malaysia Today portal would give that impression. The lively postings allude to a sense of inevitability in the socio-political evolution of this country, where some sort of People's Power movement, indeed an alternative irresistible political force, would sweep through Putrajaya to obliterate and replace the current ruling oligarchs with an "enlightened" administration driven by the mantra of Ketuanan Rakyat.

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Is this really an accurate sketch in the complex Malaysian socio-political canvas? Do these people -- the posters, lurkers, trolls and bots inhabiting the Malaysia Today cyber-habitat -- really represent the conscience and aspirations and, indeed, the essence of the Malaysian people, a compelling sampling of the changing socio-dynamics permeating our nation?

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Not really.

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Who are these people then?

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Malaysia Today is a typical SoPo portal, an aggregator of third party newsfeeds and blog postings, spiced with some original articles by RPK himself prior to his ISA detention. The Malaysia Today Webmaster (RPK in the past, and now his close associates since his detention) would "moderate" incoming readers' comments to ensure congruence to the portal's political sentiment. RPK himself said that daily he had to delete 500-600 comments sent by Malays, which he termed the "UMNO Cyber Troopers." This effectively skewed Malaysia Today into a supra cyber platform for non-Malays to spew their bigotry and chauvinism while sheltered from Malay reactions.

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Typical of other SoPo blogs and portals, the site is frequented by the usual suspects, namely political gossip junkies in need of their daily "fix" of sensational revelations and maladies of the ongoing Malaysian political telenovela. The human tendency to revel in a schadenfreude orgy was satiated by RPK's rich pipeline of sensational "scoops" as well as his series of "True Stories" of our historical past, including a revisionist portrayal of the May 13 Incident, a version much more palatable to his predominantly non-Malay audience.

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Visitors to his portal may not necessarily share RPK's ideology or the anti-Malay, anti BN/UMNO flavour of the content. Many just want to read alternative viewpoints to supplement the less-than-credible spin spewed by the mainstream media. Some visitors may, indeed, be RPK's many enemies, wanting to check out his latest antics. Yet others are just curious.

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Out of this pool, a smallish group ultimately immersed themselves into the Malaysia Today cyber-habitat, became hyperactive posters, and evolved into "MT junkies," glued to the site for hours on end, alienating themselves from the realities of Main Street Malaysia and oblivious to the constantly shifting socio-political undercurrents that define Malaysian politics. These MT junkies -- overwhelmingly non-Malay -- actually believed their own postings, facilitated by the total lack of competing Malay viewpoints as these were "moderated away" by Malaysia Today's Webmasters. The MT junkies reinforce this make-believe empowerment by incessantly regurgitating the same points of view, essentially preaching-to-the-converted, in their comments to every new Malaysia Today story.

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The propensity of Malaysia Today to block comments from Malays (RPK's "UMNO Cyber Troopers") that would countervail the bigoted viewpoints of the Chinese chauvinists and Hindraf sympathizers contributed to this false sense of empowerment among the non-Malays.
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The unbridled spiral of prejudice and contempt -- in a make-believe cocoon devoid of the voice of the Malay majority -- fueled an irrational exuberance among the MT junkies over a perceived "inevitable" change in the Malaysian political landscape, where the non-Malays (in the guise of DAP's Malaysian Malaysia stance shrouded by the Ketuanan Rakyat mantra of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition) would have the major grip on political power in this country while the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional coalition would collapse and dissipate into thin air.

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This RPK chap, a likable personality with a free-spirited, bohemian streak, was gradually emboldened by the ceaseless cheerleadings and promptings of the MT junkies. Ever more sensational stories were churned but these could not satiate the hungry hordes. RPK then did the ultimate – he himself became the story, starring in his own improbable sinetron radiating from the keyboard of his PC.

With RPK in the starring role, who needs third party revelations? He is the story! He can craft his own play and act in his own drama. He has reached the nirvana of SoPo blogging. Quite predictably, hits on Malaysia Today hit the roof, giving chedet.com a run for its money. RPK was now on par with Dr. Mahathir Mohamad! Nobody gets larger than that in Malaysia. Pak Lah, Najib Razak and even Anwar Ibrahim were reduced to supporting cast and bit players in the eyes of the MT junkies. A sense of invulnerability descended upon the Malaysia Today cyber-habitat and the mystique of RPK’s infallibility permeated his congregation.

But again, who are this flock of adherents that contributed to the deification of RPK in the cyber universe?

Here’s a quick and dirty classification:-

Groupie Gang I: The Idealists
These are the believers of a new, utopian Malaysia devoid of racial, religious and class conflict; a land of plenty for all; a just, corrupt-free nation of civil, law abiding citizens united in a celebration of cosmopolitan multiculturalism. The thought leaders of this small but influential group include fellow bloggers Dr. Azly Rahman, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Dr. Bakri Musa, Harris Ibrahim, as well as writers Karim Raslan, Wan Hamidi Hamid and politicians, Zaid Ibrahim and Tunku Aziz Ibrahim. The Idealists, albeit for different reasons and motivations, advocate either the abolishment or a revamp of the NEP, demonise Ketuanan Melayu, and view BN/UMNO as an obsolete post-Colonial relic quivering through the final vestiges of its existence. The elegant intellectual discourse spewed by the Idealists, usually revolving around the need for social justice, meritocracy and more “progressive” Malay attitudes are well received by the predominantly non-Malay MT junkies as this would entail the dismantling of perceived Malay-centric policy legacies built over the years by BN/UMNO. The non-Malay MT junkies usually refer to this group in their comment postings as the “good Malays.” Articles and blog postings by these "good Malays" are prominently displayed in Malaysia Today and their Chinese and Indian-friendly comments are approved by the gatekeeper, giving the casual Malaysia Today reader the false impression of a softening Malay stance amidst the perceived newfound political clout of the non-Malays in this "new" post-318 Tsunami political landscape.

Groupie Gang II: The Anwaristas
This collection of visitors and posters view Malaysia Today as a convenient platform to spew their venom against anything that had to do with BN/UMNO, more so the likes of Pak Lah, Najib Razak and Hamid Albar. The nucleus of the Anwaristas’ gene pool can be traced back to Anwar’s ABIM and Reformasi days. Many are ex-hardcore UMNO cadres purged from the party in the aftermath of Anwar Ibrahim’s battle royale with Dr. M. These are essentially closet UMNO people – in attitude and mindset – the “have nots” in the intra-Malay competition for patronage and privileges. Beyond a common enemy in a Pak Lah/Najib-led UMNO, they have no affinities to Groupie Gangs I, IV and V and do not partake in commenting except to glorify Anwar Ibrahim and to ridicule the key UMNO personalities.

Groupie Gang III: The PAS Malays
These are predominantly PAS members, with some PKR supporters among the lot. They view UMNO as their ideological foes and tolerate the other RPK Groupies (for now) in their bigger quest to win the Hearts and Minds of the Malay masses. This group makes up a small minority in the English-centric Malaysia Today Cyber Habitat and many have filtered away amidst the strident criticisms on Islam by the portal and the comments sent by the anti-Malay MT junkies.

Groupie Gang IV: The Rabid Anti-Malay Racists
These are the bread-and-butter of Malaysia Today and form the majority of the posters. Their posts and comments say it all. Everything in Malaysia is linked back to their hatred of the Malays. These are the ethnic-Chinese chauvinists, Hindraf sympathizers and assorted hangers-on who suffer from an overwhelming sense of alienation in this country. They equate every symbol and instrument of Malaysian statehood – from Bahasa Malaysia to the Negaraku to the Rukunegara to the Songkok to the Jalur Gemilang and, of course, the Keris – to the Malays and hence not worthy of their respect and deference. This attitude spawned a deep-seated hollowness permeating their souls as they languish in a land whose essence run contrary to their aspirations. Hence, every post emanating from this Group would revolve around their revulsion of and paranoiac vengeance towards the Malays. Of course, when like-minded posts coalesced in the Malaysia Today cyber-habitat, an explosion of Malayphobia saturates the portal. And with the Malay voice effectively moderated-away by the Webmaster, this racist mania continues unchecked and unchallenged. The venom and ferocity of the attacks are matched only by the “spin” applied to various issues by authors and articles allied to their non-Malay agenda. Of course, to appease the Anwaristas and the PAS and PKR Malays, these Rabid Racists would replace “Malay” with the term UMNOputra or Mat Rempit or just plain beruks, but the message to the casual reader is clear: They hate Malays, and all the maladies of this country can be traced back to the Malays. Their own kind – the “repressed, smart hard working people” – are portrayed as a Superlative group, held in check only by the smothering political grasp of the Malays (oops, no … by the “UMNO people”) crawling in their subsidised tongkats and crutches.

Groupie Gang V: The RPK Cultists
To this group -- mostly young, impressionable non-Malays with their first intoxicating taste of politics – RPK is a demigod, a messiah sent by the Gods to rid Malaysia of the bad guys, to single-handedly rescue Malaysia from all the maladies caused by these people. Yes, all these and then some in one fell swoop of his …. errrr ….. keyboard! The cultists elevate RPK to a Supreme Being-like persona, a larger than life sage whose every word is the gospel truth, who’s every action is holy, and whose every pronouncement must be followed. Utterances of “my RPK,” “our RPK,” “I love RPK,” “RPK our hero,” “RPK wants” and “RPK says” began to percolate in readers’ postings and comments on Malaysia Today. I get blurry images of Jim Jones, Idi Amin and Kim Il Sung as I forage through the thick undergrowth of readers’ homage to RPK in Malaysia Today. And you know what? I think RPK actually gradually believed in this burgeoning personality cult and began to suffer lapses of self-grandiosity as manifested in his later posts and articles.

So what happened when RPK got banished to Kamunting? What happened to his hordes of supporters, the people who would join him arm-in-arm in a fight to the death with the ruling oligarchs? Where are the untold millions that would march to Kamunting to tear down the walls and hand-pluck RPK from the grasp of the baddies? Where? A hundred people in Anti-ISA and Free RPK t-shirts assembling at the entrance of the Kamunting camp or a couple of hundred people holding a candlelight vigil at Dataran Merdeka just don’t cut it.

Is this the real Malaysia? Is this group of affluent predominantly non-Malay urbanites a true sampling of the Malaysian population, representing the sentiment of the rakyat? These people may be nothing more than a like-minded interest-group with deep-rooted animosity towards the Malays, egged on by partisan politicians naturally at loggerheads with their BN/UMNO rivals.

What about the on-line petition drive to free RPK? How many actually signed up?

A sampling of the Free RPK Petition

Does this list represent Malaysia’s demographic mix, a necessary condition to “transform the nation” from Perlis to Johor to Kelantan to Sabah into a different Ketuanan Rakyat paradigm? After discounting the meaningless prank names such as “Father of Najis,” “Death 666,” “Johnny Doe” (in the above sample), as well as the non-citizen residents and foreigners signing from afar, how many people actually signed up? How many legitimate citizens actually walked the talk and signed the petition? 10,000? 30,000? 100,000? These are peanuts compared to the purported millions of hits charted daily by Malaysia Today.

Assuming 100,000 Malaysians actually signed the petition, this would represent less than four-tenth of one percent or 0.0036 of Malaysia’s 27.5 million people, or one out of every 275 Malaysians. It means, 274 out of 275 Malaysians don’t really care. Is this four-tenth of one percent the Critical Mass sufficient to revolutionise the Malaysian political landscape, the people with the mandate to dismantle this country’s socio-economic-political equilibrium?

No.

These people are just a smallish cyber-community not at all representative of the Malaysian ethno-cultural milieu. But isn’t Malaysia Today the voice of the people?

What people?

Any blogger will admit that the number of "hits" do not translate into number of people. A Malaysia Today junkie might reload the portal 20-30 times a day just to access the stories. Also, not more than 30 hard core junkies post 90% of the comments. Go check the site. It’s obvious that a small group of hyperactive adherents account for a large amount of postings, hence, essentially preaching their political gospel to themselves in an affliction which may be termed “inbred blog postings syndrome.”

Again, where are the Malays? Where is Mainstream Malaysiana that would change the country? The writings on the banners allude to a predominantly ethnic-Chinese grouping. What does this say? Why are the Malay majority not taken in to RPK and the ideals of Malaysia Today?

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The vast majority of RPK’s supporters are just armchair quarterbacks and fair weather cheerleaders and people with nothing better to do who essentially outsourced and sub-con their political activism to this poor chap from the airconditioned comfort of their homes and offices, from their cosy beds and plush sofas, cybercafés and chic gourmet coffee joints. They are not even representative of the country, in terms of demographics, dispersion and political inclination. These junkies are more akin to the lunatic fringe than to the mainstream of Malaysian society. Who are these people? The content and nature of their postings revealed an English-literate motley crew of private college kids, bored pensioners, the unemployed, the under-employed white collar salarymen, the disenfranchised and a handful of professionals -- all with chips on their shoulders. There is also a good sprinkling of expats and foreigners posting from faraway places (146 countries according to RPK in the clip above). Plus a fair bit of ex-Malaysians with axes to grind and some kiasu Singaporeans.

Hardly forming the vanguard of the Malaysian Rakyat.

Yes, RPK (and poor Marina and kids) were conned by these people. These cyber-opportunists outsourced and sub-con their politicking to him while they cheer him from the comfort of their cosy homes and plush offices. Many seemed to ignore that RPK is a real human being, a late middle-aged man with a wife and many children. A man with responsibilities, hopes, fears, aspirations and vulnerabilities like the rest of us. These parasites and blood suckers ruined his life and unnecessarily estranged his family from mainstream Malaysia.

RPK himself is not really a grave threat to national security. His incoherent rantings and pathological animosity towards BN/UMNO and prominent UMNO personalities are old news. RPK is a known loud-mouth, a prickly irritant with a penchant for the dramatic. For many, his revelations and cyber activism are no more than pure entertainment, melodramatic political gossip on par with TV3’s obnoxious Melodi and a much needed comic relief from the socio-political quagmire of the past 3-4 years under Pak Lah’s disastrous watch.

But RPK’s real fault lies in his propagation of Malaysia Today as a cyber platform for assorted bigoted and racist characters to spew their venom against the Malays and, in more than one instance, to ridicule Islam. His personal vendetta against the UMNO Cyber Troopers (purportedly led by Azalina Othman Said and Norza Zakaria according to RPK in the clip above) degenerated into an almost blanket deletion of pro-Malay comments, hence rendering the portal into a one-sided anti-Malay arena in the uniquely Malaysian game of race-tinged politics.

Indeed, MT Junkies (the Rabid Anti-Malay Racists and RPK Cultists mentioned above) are the bigger threats to national security. These racists, bigots and cyber-misfits hide behind their anonymity to flood Malaysia Today with venomous racist postings, instigating hatred for the Malay majority, ridiculing Islam, and spewing seditious spins to various national issues.

This was the real threat and his refusal to curtail this threat finally nailed RPK.

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My advise to RPK, Marina Lee and family: take a few steps back and view the bigger picture, the real landscape out there. What exactly is your struggle? Justice? For whom and where? The Penans, Dusuns, Senois and Semangs deep in our rainforests? Kedah paddy farmers? Trengganu fisherfolk? The ordinary civil servant or private sector clerk? The hardworking Pasar Malam vendors? The labourers in our plantations? The trishaw/beca man (yes, we still have them)? The hard core urban poor? Who? Where? Why aren’t they outraged by your ISA detention? We don’t see them take to the streets in Kota Bharu or Sarikei or Lahad Datu to demand your release. Most have never heard of you! Aung San Su Kyi you are not. Nor are you a Nelson Mandela or a Xanana Gusmão.

You are just a political tool for some selfish interests, for the elitists far removed from the grassroots and the ordinary man.

RPK doesn’t really speak for the real Malaysians out there, for the 27.5 million people from Langkawi to Besut to Batu Pahat to Kemaman to Santubong to Miri to Ranau to Semporna. RPK hardly exists in the consciousness of these masses. No, RPK speak only for the small lunatic fringe of our society -- the affluent, private art school on daddy’s-money set (bottom below) and the rabid anti-Malay Chinese chauvinist (with Marina, top below) and Hindraf Indian racists languishing in the deep murky crevasses of the cyber world. RPK and his ideals do not represent the sentiment of the vast majority of Malaysians.

Pics: delCapo.wordpress

RPK, Marina Lee and their kids were used by the nameless parasites lurking in cyberspace These anonymous characters embody the worst of human traits; they got something for nothing. Oh yes, they got their schadenfreude fix all right when the going was good. They have chewed the sweet fruits plucked by RPK, and spit out the pits to be picked up by Marina and her kids. The long lonely trips to Kamunting, the endless court dates, the deprivation of a husband and father, the despair and helplessness – will all be borne by Marina Lee and family.

Finally, where is Anwar Ibrahim? What is his stand on RPK’s detention? RPK gave his life, metaphorically speaking, to uphold Anwar’s “ideals.” RPK bet the ranch on Anwar becoming PM on 916 and came out a loser, a pathetic flat broke loser. Has Anwar and gang even addressed the RPK ISA issue? Indeed, his silence is deafening. What about Lim Kit Siang? Once Teresa Kok and the Sin Chew reporter got out, Unker Kit Siang has disappeared as well. What about PAS? Do you think either the old ulamas or the younger Islamist cadres have anything in common with RPK? Do you think they like RPK? Did RPK and his MT junkies pushed for the release of Nik Adli, Tuan Guru Nik Aziz’s son, who was under ISA detention for many years? I don't recall any Ah Sohs, Ah Mois, Leng Chais and Uncles bearing "Free Nik Adli" t-shirts in front of the Kamunting camp. Actually, you MT junkies would not recognize Nik Adli even if he walked right past your smug faces. And you expect PAS to sympathise with RPK? You expect PAS to fight for RPK amidst Malaysia Today’s anti-Islamic postings and its readers’ rabid rantings against Islam?

In a nutshell, do you think the Pakatan Rakyat gives a hoot about RPK? No. He was a useful tool. But he was also a disposable tool. RPK is no use to them now. Indeed, he is now a distraction . They want to govern the nation. They have no time for this old chap. To them, RPK is just a lost soul who threw too many dices in his own little crapshoot. Their focus is on 27.5 million men and women. Not one guy who spoke and wrote too much. And they won’t glorify, deify or make a martyr out of RPK either. That’s already reserved for one man.

Marina, you owe it to RPK to close down Malaysia Today. Your “struggle” is for nothing. These sly political opportunists and selfish cyber-parasites don't deserve your sacrifice. There are hardly a few thousand legitimate signatures in your Free RPK petition. Only a few hundred turned up in candlelight vigils and at the Hari Raya assembly at the gate of Kamunting. What does that tell you? There is no avalanche of support for RPK. There never was. The “millions of supporters” are just but a mirage spawned by delusions of grandiosity that snowballed in the Malaysia Today cyber-habitat over the years.

Let this be a lesson to other bloggers. Do not get caught in your own demagoguery, in a propensity to over-fantasize your relevance to the political process and role as some sort of a “peoples’ hero” based on the digits of your blog’s Hit Counter and a bucketful of readers’ comments.